Spoken Word

SexDrugsandAudienceParticipation2Lorens (Minneapolis, MN)

When the music stops, if you're holding the bowl come up on stage and reach in to choose one of the naughty topics inside. So begins every performance of Sex, Drugs and Audience Participation. One of the Indy Fringe's top 10 selling shows and a critically acclaimed Hollywood Fringe Encore presentation, Howard Lieberman and Loren Niemi guarantee that no two performances will be the same but every one will offer emotionally honest true stories seasoned with laughter. Warning: Adult Language

The Buffalo Room | 60m | Rated R

NationalStorytellingConferenceNational Storytelling Network

Sex, marriage, death, and taxes – we have been through it all – and so has Barry Manilow. On the roller coaster of life, music and passion are always the fashion. By Debbie Weston From & Tracy Sue Walker, GA. Warning: Adult Language

National Story Tellers Conference | 60m | Rated R | www.storynet.org

NationalStorytellingConferenceNational Storytelling Network

Harry Houdini was known for his magic. However, his story is more compelling than his tricks. Experience his complicated story including the mystical, improbably, complicated, and inviting. A family program with some improvisation, based on research from Houdini’s life presented as a multi-narrative. By Kevin D. Cordi, OH Warning: Adult Language

National Story Tellers Conference | 60m | Rated R | www.storynet.org

NationalStorytellingConferenceNational Storytelling Network

A soldier returned from Vietnam and shook the Devil’s hand. Sigunnr was twelve when her fauther took her into his bed. Two stories of overcoming the darkness and finding love. By Cooper Braun, CO. Warning: Adult Language

National Story Tellers Conference | 60m | Rated R | www.storynet.org

FairyTalesforGrownupsLaura Packer

What happens before once upon a time and after happily ever after? Did Beauty really love the Prince or only the Beast? And what's all that fuss about poisoned apples anyway? Join storyteller Laura Packer for an exploration of the other side of enchantment. No Disney princesses, singing teapots or emasculated wolves. An evening of fairy tales for grownups. Darker. Sexier. Funnier. Grimmer. Warning: Adult Language

The Fishtank | 60m | Rated R | www.laurapacker.com

ImpenetrableinnocenceJamie Mayo

What if the sunshine, undulating red and orange across your eyelids, slides down a little lower, lights a sweet fire in your belly? What if your fingers dancing across your friend's arm light a fire down low in her belly? What if what makes you feel alive is cast into the shadows, staining your experience of sex? Can you find your way back to that light that first warmed your body when you were a child? I've got stories. Come a little closer and I'll whisper them in your ear.

The Fishtank | 60m | Rated R | www. Fertilizedspirit.com

NationalStorytellingConferenceNational Storytelling Network

What if you awoke one morning to find that everything had changed, that in the night you had become something frightening, even disgusting? It happened to Gregor Samsa. Told by Margaret Meyers, MN. Warning: Adult Language

National Story Tellers Conference | 60m | Rated R | www.storynet.org

LifeLaidBareMax Brown

Max H. Brown, retired drama teacher explains it all for you - after 42 years in the classroom from his humble beginnings in Sunflower, Kansas and his first production of The Ugly Duckling to the present day, Max takes us on a humorous and often intense, wild journey through his life, loves, failures and successes, in and out of the classroom. Warning: Adult Language

The Fishtank | 90m | Rated R

MamaLogsDebbie From (Cleveland, GA)

Prepare to be transported on a humorous and heart-warming journey skirting around the topic of motherhood. Whether you're a mother or you have a mother, come meet an array of characters who share intimate details reflecting varied perspectives on the vastness of parenting and life. A series of adult-themed monologues crafted from a combination of interviews, stories and personal experiences. Warning: Adult Language

Westport Coffeehouse | 60m | Rated R | www.debbiefrom.com

Mama'sBoyBlake Friis

Blake Friis grew up a proud, self-proclaimed mama's boy. His mother was smart, funny, and the toughest person in town. After a devastating car accident, she made a recovery that inspired everyone around her. Then, three days after Blake's 13th birthday, she ended her life. In this one-man show, set to original Americana music, Blake discusses the stigma of suicide, growing up a loss survivor, and learning to find peace with questions that can never be answered. Warning: Adult Language

The Fishtank | 60m | Rated PG

MosquitoRadioHourIIA Swarm of Tellers

It is the second year and we still suck! We will feature artists from River & Prairie Storyweavers, National Storytelling Network, and the Free State Story Slam. We are not The Moth but each night a new swarm of tellers will share stories of irritations, annoyances, and the many bumps of life. Not quite a slam but there may be some slapping... Warning: Adult Language

The Fishtank | 60m | Rated PG

NationalStorytellingConferenceNational Storytelling Network

By 1917 standards, Dad’s parents were old when he was born – 40, in fact. Happily ever after wasn’t even close. Not even “normal” ever after would describe his life. By Julie Moss, CO. Warning: Adult Language

National Story Tellers Conference | 60m | Rated R | www.storynet.org

NiquePoetryNique (Lawrence, KS)

Nique Poetry is the premiere spoken word poetry showcase in the Greater Kansas City area. Within the first of year of being founded, they have already traveled over three different states, and their members have all individually placed and/or won Poetry Slams. Warning: Adult Language

Musical Theater Heritage Stage 2 | 60m | Rated PG

CANCELLED

PissingontheGreatWallMaximum Verbosity (St. Louis Park, MN)

A cranky Chinese-American returns to the Middle Kingdom in the midst of a new identity crisis. Whether beating the streets of Beijing in pursuit of a stolen backpack or confronting Communism in an Emperor's tomb, engaging in a battle of wits with overzealous tour guides or performing a pig sacrifice in his ancestral village, the champion of negative thought returns with more mystery, more musings, and of course more angst, in his first travelogue since the 2010 Fringe hit Descendant of Dragons. Warning: Adult Language

Westport Coffeehouse | 60m | Rated PG | www.maximumverbosityonline.org

NationalStorytellingConferenceNational Storytelling Network

What happens when we lose our origin story? How do we navigate our way home? A journey to reclaim a place to stand. Warning: Adult Language

By Wendy Gourley, UT

National Story Tellers Conference | 60m | Rated R | www.storynet.org

NationalStorytellingConferenceNational Storytelling Network

A different look at the American Civil War – or War of Northern Aggression between the States. Hear stories of famous personalities, places, and events through unusual stories that really happened. Warning: Adult Language

By Mike Lockett, IL

National Story Tellers Conference | 60m | Rated R | www.storynet.org

NationalStorytellingConferenceNational Storytelling Network

Two stories of trickerty, of loves lost and found, and lost again, with a little cross dressing thrown in. Warning: Adult Language

Told by Jane Ogburn Dorfman, MD

National Story Tellers Conference | 60m | Rated R | www.storynet.org

NationalStorytellingConferenceNational Storytelling Network

A father’s emotional journey of the transgender evolution of his young-adult child, told through world-tales, personal storytelling and pictures – a personal crafting, not a dogmatic discussion. Warning: Adult Language

By Sean Buvala, AZ

National Story Tellers Conference | 60m | Rated R | www.storynet.org

TricksterPriscilla Howe

In a "look-Ma-no-hands" storytelling show not quite directly from Eastern Europe, storyteller Priscilla Howe brings you imported tricksters, folktales, anecdotes, jokes and language. Bulgarian language. Ridiculous travelogue situations, drool-worthy food descriptions and scatological references may occur. Warning: Adult Language

The Fishtank | 60m | Rated PG | priscillahowe.com

UncommonCoreTheatre 102 (Madison, WI)

There are days I look out over my students and I close my plan book and I shut my door and I open my eyes to the lessons they really need to learn, no matter what the Common Core deems worthy of my curriculum. These students deserve a celebration. Come join me and see why.

Teaching is about changing the world. If you don't believe that, you're not doing it right. - 8th Grade Student, Room 102 

Some days I look out over my students and I see hungry minds. There is much to bemoan in the current state of our education system. But none of it is the students. They deserve a celebration.

Unicorn Jerome Stage | 60m | Rated G